Themis
Themis was one of the Titans, a daughter of Uranus and Gaea. She stands for established right and the order of divine law, and she summoned and presided over the assemblies of the gods. Zeus took her as his second wife, and she bore him the Horae (the Seasons) and the Moirae (the Fates). She also held the oracle at Delphi before Apollo.
Themis' Name and Role
Hesiod lists Themis among the children of Gaea and Uranus, together with Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea, Mnemosyne, Phoebe and Tethys (Hesiod, Theogony 133–138). Her name is also an ordinary Greek word for what is established as right, and Homer uses its plural, themistes, for the decrees that kings guard on behalf of Zeus (Homer, Iliad 1.237–239).
In the Iliad, Zeus tells Themis to summon the gods to an assembly on Olympus, and she goes everywhere calling them to his house (Iliad 20.4–6). When Hera comes to Olympus in distress, Themis is the first to run to meet her and takes her cup (Iliad 15.87–88). In the Odyssey, Telemachus swears by Zeus and by Themis, who looses and gathers the assemblies of men (Homer, Odyssey 2.68–69).
Family of Themis
- Consorts
- Zeus
Consort and Children
According to Hesiod, Zeus married Metis first and Themis second. Themis bore the Horae — Eunomia (Good Order), Dike (Justice) and Eirene (Peace), who watch over the works of mortals — and the Moirae Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, to whom Zeus gave the greatest honor and who give mortals good and evil (Theogony 901–906). Apollodorus repeats this list (Apollodorus, Library 1.3.1). Pindar also calls Eunomia, Dike and Eirene daughters of Themis (Pindar, Olympian 13.6–8). In Apollodorus, the nymphs who know where the golden apples of the Hesperides are, the daughters of Zeus and Themis, live by the river Eridanus (Library 2.5.11).
The Divine Laws
As the guardian of what is right among the gods, Themis appears in the poets when fate and divine order are at stake: she knows what is destined and warns the gods of it.
Themis and Prometheus
In Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, Prometheus calls Themis his mother, and says she is also Gaia, “one form with many names”. She had foretold that the Titans' rule would end through cunning, not force. When the Titans scorned his advice, Prometheus went over to Zeus with her, and it was by his counsel that Tartarus swallowed Cronus and his allies (Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 209–223).
Themis and the Marriage of Thetis
Pindar tells how Zeus and Poseidon both desired the sea goddess Thetis, but the gods gave up the marriage when they heard what had been fated. Themis spoke among them and declared that Thetis was destined to bear a son stronger than his father, whose weapon would be greater than the thunderbolt or the trident, and that Thetis should instead marry a mortal and see her son die in war (Pindar, Isthmian 8.27–37).
Themis in Delphi
Aeschylus begins the Eumenides with the Pythia naming the prophetic gods in order. First she honors Earth, the first prophet; then Themis, who, according to the tale, took her mother’s seat at the oracle as the second; then, third, another Titan, Phoebe, who took the oracle with Themis’ consent and gave it to Phoebus Apollo as a birthday gift (Aeschylus, Eumenides 1–8). Ovid names Themis as the goddess who held the oracle at Parnassus in the time of Deucalion’s flood, and she gives Deucalion and Pyrrha their answer there (Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.321, 1.379–383).
Pausanias saw a temple of Themis below the Acropolis at Athens (Pausanias 1.22.1) and an altar of Themis at the place called Stomium (the Mouth) at Olympia (Pausanias 5.14.10).
Themis Sources
Hesiod, Theogony 133–138, 901–906; Homer, Iliad 1.237–239, 15.87–88, 20.4–6; Homer, Odyssey 2.68–69; Pindar, Olympian 13.6–8, Isthmian 8.27–37; Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 209–223, Eumenides 1–8; Apollodorus, Library 1.3.1, 2.5.11; Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.321, 1.379–383; Pausanias 1.22.1, 5.14.10.
See Also: Gaea, Uranus, Zeus, Prometheus, Phoebe, Apollo, Thetis, Moirai, Horae
What the ancient sources say
Passages that name Themis, in the original with English translation. The line gives the work and reference as scholars cite it.
- Euripides, Medea 131–212Parodos: the women of Corinth hear Medea's criesThe Chorus of Corinthian women hear Medea's cries from the house and ask the Nurse what is wrong. Medea, still inside, calls on Themis and Zeus as guardians…
- Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.64.1–5.67.5Early Crete: the Dactyls, the Curetes and the TitansThe Cretans claim that the Eteocretans were native to the island, and that the Idaean Dactyls discovered fire and the working of metals. They tell of the…
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.313–415Deucalion and PyrrhaThe flood drowns beasts and men, and starvation takes those it spares. Only Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha, who have always worshipped the gods, are saved…
- Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.5.1–13From Daulis to Delphi: the Phocicum, the Cleft Way and the early oracle and temples of ApolloPausanias describes the Phocicum, where the Phocian deputies meet, and the Cleft Way where Oedipus killed his father. He recounts the different traditions…
- Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 77–82Hymns 77-82: Mnemosyne, Aurora, Themis, the North, West and South WindsMnemosyne, the consort of Zeus and source of the Muses, is invoked to wake the memory of the initiate, and Aurora as the goddess whose rising ray leads on…
- Strabo, Geography 9.3.9–12Delphi: Neoptolemus, the Python and the Pythian gamesStrabo tells of the early shrines at Delphi, the tomb of Neoptolemus and his killing by Machaereus. He describes the musical contest and the Pythian games…
- [Eratosthenes], Catasterismi (Constellation Myths) 13–16The Charioteer, the Bull, Cepheus and CassiepeiaThe Charioteer is Erichthonius, born from Hephaestus's failed pursuit of Athena, and with him are the Goat and Kids of Zeus's infancy. The Bull is either…
- Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 42–46Hymns 42-46: Mises, the Seasons, Semele, Dionysius Bassareus, Liknitus BacchusMises, here called Thesmophorus, is invoked as a spermatic god of many names who bears a leafy rod, and the Seasons as the daughters of Jove and Themis who…
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